Access Issue: Potentially unavailable to climbing February through July if raptors are breeding here.
Details

This area is historically used by nesting falcons, hawks, owls or other raptors. Breeding season varies but is roughly February through July. Nesting raptors are protected by law.

If you aren't sure if raptors are breeding here, then listen and watch for defensive behavior such as screeching or diving (links to info). If raptors are breeding in this area please climb somewhere else and let other climbers know.

Pressures on wildlife can be immense and are multiplied by effects of climate change and pollutants. Choosing to climb away from nest sites reduces unnecessary stresses to the birds. Give these animals a chance to thrive.

Description

The Fortress is one of the best and most varied crags on Mount Lemmon. The Southeast Face boasts amazing sport and traditional multi-pitch routes. The Orifice Wall, which is a sharp contrast to the face routes, boasts some of the hardest and steepest routes in the region. The Fortress along with the other summit crags should not be missed.

Be sure to observe the season closure from March 15 to June 30 peregrine falcon nesting.

Getting There

Drive up Mount Lemmon Highway (Catalina Highway) for approximately 22.5 miles. Turn right on Ski Run Road, immediately prior to entering the town of Summerhaven, and follow this road approximately 4.5 miles. While on Ski Run Road continue through the Ski Valley parking lot where the road narrows and winds up the last section of the mountain. Upon reaching the closed gate of the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory turn left into a parking lot. A restroom and free camping can be found here. There is no running water.

Hike around fenced-in generators on a narrow trail used by climbers and hikers alike (Photo 1 below). In a couple minutes, at the SkyCenter Observatory sign a fork will be encountered (Photo 2 below). The Fortress can be reached by following either the access road (left) or Meadow Trail (right). The latter is more scenic and less rocky but slightly longer.

If you take the access road, follow the rocky road downhill past both a trail turnoff and a lookout point. The view will open and a metal shed will appear. Near the shed is a spring on the left (downhill) side of the trail. I believe the spring is safe to drink and always running. Continue past the shed and the turn off for Rappel Rock. Hike past the where the Meadow Trail rejoins the access road.

Turn left onto a climber's trail immediately after the green electrical box on your right (Photo 3 below). Hike past the west face of The Murray Wall to the Fortress. The Southeast Face is on your left; the Northwest Face is on your right.

Expect the drive to take 45-60 minutes and the hike to take 20-30 minutes.

After topping out, head north into flat and vegetated area. Locate gully between the West Pillar where most of the routes top out and the East Pillar. From the top of the West Pillar, the climbing up onto the East Pillar (where you can walk down from) looks substantially harder than it actually is when you're looking up at it from within the gully.

To get into the gully, downclimb into it by going back south, then east, then north again into the cleft. Head north into the gully about 2/3 of the way until you see a riblike formation of rock on your left. Across from the rib you can see the obvious weakness heading up the East Pillar. There's an initial dynamic move, maybe about 5.8, to get established on the slab, then about 20 feet of easy 5th classing to get out (5.2-5.3?)..

After getting your bearings the first time, you can pretty much head diagonally straight from the top-outs to the downclimb into the gully.

PS there's another option about 15 feet further climber's left, which involves a small traverse left then super juggy holds up and out... (avoids the 5.8 move onto the face climber's right on the first option)..haven't done it but I guess most people think it's easier..
Jul 18, 2007

I know there was a lot of action up at the Orifice wall last season. Anyone care to list the routes from right to left as you approach the big ledge? A few of the route descriptions don't really give much info as to where each given route is compared to the other routes.

Anyone know what route this is? I thought we were on either Twice As Nice or Fisherman's Elbow but neither description matches. Perhaps it is "Nice BBDs" with a third pitch added? The location seems about right anyway.

Descending the west side of the Fortress one encounters two bolted lines. The rightmost of the routes consists of three pitches:

1) The first pitch ascends bright white rock for 80ft until a ledge with anchors is reached. The climbing is ~5.9.

2) The second pitch climbs bulgy, black and green rock. This rock is reminiscent of the rock on the Orifice Wall. The anchors for this pitch are immediately below a ledge. Scars in the rock show that they had been moved a foot or two lower at some point. I am tempted to say the route ended here at one time. The climbing is ~5.10 and 80ft or so.

3) The third pitch crosses two ledges and is significantly easier than the first two pitches. The rock is standard Fortress rock with plenty of good holds. The climbing is ~5.8 and 100ft or so.
Sep 4, 2010

Someone has scattered rat poison around the base of The Orifice, presumably to kill the mice that occasionally raid lunches. This is obviously NOT COOL. Whomever did it obviously wasn't thinking about the squirrels, chipmunks, birds, reptiles that eat them, and other people's dogs. We may not like for animals to get into our things, but this is their habitat-- even the mice-- not ours. Not that any rangers would ever know about it, but this would also be a great way to get access to a crag taken away. Everyone there today was on the same page that this is VERY bad form by some fellow climber. Whoever you are, please don't be an embarrassment to our sport or a menace to the environment again.
Oct 17, 2011

speaking of cleaning up a mess (yeah yeah i know it was last year) can we clean up all these routes into separate categories? e.g. orifice wall, fortress south face, etc. right now it's confusing as all hell.
Jul 6, 2012

Of course Jon could just start climbing them all and then like those who have climbed most of them he would not be so confused. Gotta spoon feed these kids everything. You know where Steel Crazy starts so work in either direction from there. It isn't that hard. Better yet ask someone to color code the hangers. Better yet we should chop 3 routes after the first one on the right then 3 more after route 5 and so on. Less routes means less confusion. No No never mind, Think of it as a puzzle Jon or a video game where you actually have to play with your body to win.

WHAT WOULD DON BULAND SAY ABOUT THIS JON? Haha!

If only someone would do a guidebook. Oh wait someone is working on one.

Hey Steve, I actually proposed the idea of "guest admin" privileges to Andy not so long ago for cases as such. I'll look into it, but Richard would probably need some stronger coffee for such a task...
Jul 12, 2012

Just chiming in here because I'd love to see some organization for this area as well. I was up there yesterday for the first time, and between this site and Squeezing The Lemmon II there was essentially no useful information for The Fortress. We found some cool climbs (a bunch of nice vertical sport climbs at the base of the Right Fortress) but I have no idea what they were.

Putting "dead tree" on a topo is f'ing useless if I can see 15 dead trees from any given place at the base of a wall.
Sep 16, 2012

Interesting. First time I went down to the Fortress with STL II I had no trouble figuring out what was what. Sometimes I did actually have to match features on the topo with the actual rock in front of me. It does seem the ability to read a guide book has diminished in the last ten years. Not sure why that is. Maybe too much info being spoon fed to the masses has decreased the ability and desire to figure stuff out your self.
Sep 18, 2012

Experienced a brutal attempt to climb here today. First, we learned that the car gate up to the Skycenter from the ski lodge is closed during the winter. This forced us to hike on foot around the gate and up the street for 1.5 steep miles with our gear. We eventually reached the parking lot where the approach starts. The instructions from here to the summit are superb. However, after taking the climber's trail immediately left of the green electrical box, we found that the path down to the fortress was non-existent (at least to our eyes). We scrambled down fighting through a lot of debris, loose rock, fallen trees, and brush. We learned later that there was a significant fire and landslide in 2017 that may have caused this? Has anyone climbed here recently and can you confirm if the trail to the fortress is still standing intact? We eventually bailed out of frustration and went to climb at the Crag of Humanity area nearer the base of the mountain. Not the biggest fan of Mt Lemmon climbing unfortunately... Headed over to Flagstaff now to see what AZ has to offer!
Jan 12, 2018

Vernon, seems like you could have troubleshot your plan to climb at the Fortress a little better. The gate is closed every year, there is a trail over to the Fortress, and there was not a fire in 2017. The Southern AZ climbing community is really great about sharing info and even showing you around if you reach out. I hope you have better luck in Flag, and a better climbing experience if you ever get back this way. There is a lifetime of amazing climbing on Lemmon and surrounding Tucson.
Jan 13, 2018

Two guys from Tempe AZ just did the Same thing Vernon. They flailed around til 1:30 got on the route they wanted to do and finished it as the sun was setting. You were so close. Sorry you didn't get there. Really not the season for the Summit crags. Trails around hear are pretty thin and it does take a bit of outdoor navigating skill to find the easiest path. I still get it wrong. Wouldn't blame the mountain though. Good luck if you ever do get back.
Jan 13, 2018